Najib began his testimony on Dec 2 last year.

He spent 16 days reading out his examination-in-chief and responding to questions in re-examination. He was also subjected to 10 days of cross-examination by the prosecution.

This morning, lead counsel Shafee Abdullah informed High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah the defence intended to call 25 witnesses.

“I thought you said 20 last time,” said Sequerah in reply.

Shafee said the defence intends to call several lawyers to testify.

Also on the list of defence witnesses are several individuals, including former 1MDB directors, who accompanied Najib to a meeting with the late Saudi ruler, King Abdullah, in 2010, which featured prominently in his testimony.

Earlier, Najib told the court he did not consider himself sufficiently experienced in the corporate sector, having only worked for two years in the field before switching to a career in politics.

He also insisted that there was a “positive side” of 1MDB, “despite all the negative publicity”.

Najib is standing trial on 25 charges involving alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited in his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.

On Oct 30, Sequerah ordered him to enter his defence to the charges after holding that the prosecution had established a prima facie case.

The trial will resume on Feb 10.